Jerry Brown Opposes Privately-Funded Raise for UC Berkeley Chancellor

California Gov. Jerry Brown is fine with endless public expenditures of taxpayer cash. But when it comes to private donations, Brown is putting his foot down. The new University of California Berkeley chancellor, Nicholas B. Dirks, is all set to receive a $50,000 raise over his predecessor. The money will come from private donations.

But Brown is fighting mad anyway. He just finagled the Californian public into signing off onto a massive tax increase to pay off the public sector unions, including those in the UC system. But he says that it’s not right for Dirks to take private cash that would up his salary. “Leaders have to demonstrate that they are also sacrificing,” said Brown. The pay raise “does not fit within the spirit of servant leadership that I think will be required over the next few years.”

Brown, meanwhile, has done nothing to cut back public sector expenditures. Perhaps he should worry a little more about taxpayer money and a little less about private sector donations.